Monday, July 13, 2015

Fwd: Scripture


Jacob 2:18-19

18 But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. 19 And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good--to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.


Not that baptisms are riches, but my new companion had like 5 baptisms in her last area. And she says that it's not because of anything they particularly did with the investigators. It was the friends of members or people just coming out of the shadows of part member families. She said that what made the biggest difference was how obedient she was. If we give our 100% every day and every moment we are bound to see baptisms, the Lord will bless us with fruits of our labors. Perfect obedience brings blessings, but strict obedience brings Miracles. 

So what I'm doing right now is trying to evaluate what I need to change so that I can be sure I'm giving the lord my 100% and not 90.

The Lord really does guide us every moment of every day, and it's incredible. It's also very hard to describe! But trust me, it's true. Coincidences are soooo normal, they happen all day long to us. But we know they're not just coincidences. To quote the Lizzie McGuire movie song (or is it Princess Diaries...) "miracles happen!!"

It really is up to the Lord if we have a baptism or not. He puts people in our path that we have to talk to. Then the Spirit tells us to talk to that person. At that point it's up to me to follow the prompting. I don't want to ever let the Lord down by not talking to someone. Following the Spirit EVERY time though, takes a lot of effort and doesn't always happen. But I want to leave, at the end of my mission, and be able to say, that I did absolutely EVERYTHING I possibly could. That I left everything I had in Spain: my blood, sweat, tears and most importantly, my testimony. 

On Friday evening we did a church tour with an investigator from Honduras. I still am flabbergasted by how amazing it was. We had planned to meet at 5:15 and we had a member join us as well. So the member gets there and we waited together for
​ he investigator ​
for 40 minutes! She had never been to the church before and she was on her way home from work when she looked at my text and remembered. So glad I sent a text. The tour was so spiritual. I have never felt the Spirit so strong in a lesson before. We went to the baptismal font and I started crying a little bit as my companion shared her testimony of the Restored Gospel. Then our last stop was the chapel. We talked about the Sacrament and how this is the House of the Lord. Then we asked her how, "how do you feel right now, being here in the church?" Her answer surprised me, it was like straight out of The District. She said "I feel like I'm at home. When I walked up to the church today and saw your smiling faces, I felt different. I felt peace. I felt happy." Then we knelt and said a prayer in the chapel, only the light from the open windows to light our faces. My companion offered a prayer and then Melissa right after. I love it when our investigators pray. It's the most beautiful thing. She was thanking Heavenly Father for her blessings and then she started crying. The Spirit really does dwell in Holy Places. 

​The mission is such a rollercoaster of emotions of everyday. We had a visit with a less active in the chapel and we sang a hymn, Sweet hour of Prayer. It was just us three in a classroom. i started crying so hard. i couldn´t control it.  i felt so embarassed. i was so overwhelmed in that moment for some reason. i was frustrated about having a native companion. yes, it´s great. But it´s really hard too. Like my spanish is getting better, but it´s still really hard to communicate at times and when you get two natives together, like my companion and a member, sometimes i really have no idea what they´re talking about.​ 

​but the mission is great, i´m doing great. i´m so grateful for this opportunity to learn and grow from having a native as my companion. i also think people like us more because she´s from the south of spain, the ¨cool¨ part of spain with her ¨cool¨ accent.​ :)

love you!
hermana birch




--
Hermana Birch
Spain Barcelona Mission
C/ Calatrava 10 -12 bajos
Barcelona, 08017
España

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